A Murrysville nonprofit that focuses on teaching tennis, with a focus on being inclusive of all ability levels, has gotten a boost to its profile — and its bank account — through a promotion by national health care company Craneware.

Anup Nadesan, 18, of Murrysville, started My Ground Strokes alongside Franklin Regional alum Joseph Bonfiglio, with the goal of providing people of all ages and ability levels the chance to learn tennis.

Through a fundraiser in 2020, the group was able to fund a racket giveaway for its students, and provide online video lessons during the covid-19 pandemic.

For the past few months, however, My Ground Strokes (MGS) has gotten a boost from the Craneware Cares Foundation Spotlight, a promotion in which Craneware employees vote on a particular nonprofit to support during each fiscal quarter of the year.

The @MyGroundStrokes “Sponsor-A-Kid” campaign has been extended through Feb 28!! Please consider donating to this worthy cause giving new MGS students a tennis racket, a pack of balls, and an MGS t-shirt as they enter into the program. https://t.co/MkGWqvhXDK https://t.co/GpSEbvgl3q

— Craneware Cares Foundation (@CranewareCares) February 24, 2021

“MGS supports special needs and was founded by two young individuals who wanted to have a creative impact on their community,” said Craneware Cares co-chair Modesty Evans. “I think that’s what sold the vision to those of us who voted for them.”

Nadesan said the spotlight included an online fundraising campaign spearheaded by Craneware that allowed My Ground Strokes to do a second racket giveaway, this time to the Allegheny Bulldogs Special Olympics team based in Allegheny County.

“It’s a new venture for the whole group,” said Peggy Slezak, site coordinator for the Bulldogs and a board member at East Suburban Citizen Advocacy (ESCA), which has partnered with MGS since its inception. “Once a year we have a big training up in Ligonier where do offer tennis, but this is the first time it’s been an inclusive program, and that’s what so exciting for us.”

Slezak said the interaction between members of the Bulldogs and their typical peers fosters a lot of learning, which cuts both ways.

“We learn so much more from them than they do from,” she said. “So as we’ve been out in the community, we’ve found groups like My Ground Strokes, whose members haven’t had a ton of interaction with people from the special-needs community.”

Heather Speeney, associate director for ESCA, said she is excited to see the Bulldogs and MGS working together.

“They’re very passionate about gaining interest in tennis, and about inclusion, which is very important to ESCA,” Speeney said. Slezak said that with covid-19 restrictions in place for the past year, working with MGS has helped keep ESCA clients active.

“Special Olympics has temporarily suspended all our in-person training because of covid,” she said. “But we have a really active group and we try to keep everyone involved.”

Alongside Nadesan, MGS volunteers include his younger brother Prem, Shrey Ramesh, Advait Kulkarni, Vishal Thulasiram, Prerit Yadav, Urvish Jain and Aditya Arkalgud.

Nadesan said he feels a little more confident heading into the second spring and summer of the pandemic, armed with a lot more knowledge about safe ways to interact, especially outdoors.

“As we learn more and more about this, I’m feeling more comfortable that we can open up in-person and safely socially distance,” he said. “With ESCA’s approval, I hope to have the MGS clinics back up and running in the next month or so.”

And when it happens, there will 20 new members with brand-new rackets, thanks to the partnership between ESCA, MGS and Craneware.

“I really want to thank all our sponsors and the Franklin Regional School District,” Nadesan said. “They’ve been sticking with us and helping out all along the way.”

For more, see MyGroundStrokes.org.

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